By Lisa Vorderbrueggen
Thursday, March 17th, 2011 at 6:55 pm in Political events.

Check out these East Bay political developments:

Dublin

Constituents in the 11th Congressional District may visit Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, at a “Congress At Your Corner” event on Monday.

McNerney will meet with small groups of people in half-hour segments in the order in which they arrive between 2-3 p.m. at the Dublin library, 200 Civic Plaza in Dublin.

It will be McNerney’s 64th Congress At Your Corner event since he took office in 2007.

Pittsburg

Residents may try their hands at balancing California’s out-of-whack budget at a March 24 workshop hosted by Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord.

Next 10, a nonpartisan policy group, will facilitate the discussion, where participants will use electronic devices that immediately tally and record the group’s decisions.

The session will be held from 6-8 p.m. at Los Medanos Community College’s community room, 2700 E. Leland Road, in Pittburg.

The event is free but call 925-521-1511 to reserve a seat.

Regional

New voter-approved sales tax rates will go into effect April 1 in Concord, El Cerrito, San Leandro and Union City.

The rate in Concord will rise from 9.25 percent to 9.75 percent, while El Cerrito’s rate jumps from 9.75 percetn to 10.25 percent.

In Alameda County, Union City’s rate chnages from 9.75 percent to 10.25 percent. San Leandro resident will pay 10 percent, an increase from 9.75 percent.

Statewide, voters in 14 communities approved increases last November as a means of coping with financial shortfalls.

Contra Costa County

Learn everything you wanted to know about redrawing Contra Costa County’s five supervisorial district boundaries at www.CCRedistricting.org.

The county launched the new web site in preparation for the upcoming redistricting vote this summer.

After the the release of decennial census data, every government agency governed by an elected board must redraw its lines and equalize the populations of their districts.

Contra Costa’s population grew by 100,209 people in the past decade, with most of the growth taking place in the eastern and southern districts of Federal Glover, of Pittsburg, and Mary Nejedly Piepho, of Discovery Bay.

In order to equalize populations, Glover and Piepho’s districts must shrink, while the other three must expand.

At www.CCRedistricting.org, constituents may view 2010 census data, maps and learn about hearing dates. The county also hopes to offer an online map-drawing feature.

Martinez

Longtime Richmond social justice activist, songwriter, philanthropist, poet and artist Fred Jackson will be honored at the Tuesday meeting of the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors, which has renamed a street after him.

The supervisor recently voted to rename Third Street in North Richmond to “Fred Jackson Way” in honor of the beloved West Contra Costa icon.

Among his numerous awards, Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, selected Jackson as his sole elector from the 7th Congressional District in order to cast an electoral vote for President Barack Obama in 2008.

The ceremony begins at 9:30 a.m. at the board’s chamber, 651 Pine St., in Martinez.

For more information, contact Supervisor John Gioia’s office at 510-374-3231 or email his staffer Luz Gomez at luz.gomez@bos.cccounty.us.

Danville

Former FBI investigator and frequent commentator Peter Friedman will speak on Islamic law and the Quran at the April 13 meeting of the Blackhawk Republican Women.

Friedman will address the origins of Quran, the threat of Islamic or Sharia law and terrorist training camps, and “how Americans are personally funding terrorism through their 401(k) accounts,” according to the club’s press release.

The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with drinks and hors d’oeuvres, followed by the speaker at 6 p.m. It will be held at the Blackhawk Country Club, 599 Blackhawk Club Drive, in Danville.

Tickets cost $25. Please make reservations by April 11 by contacting Marianne Lyons at rlyons1009@sbcglobal.net or 925-820-6452.

Dear Governor Brown:
You need to introduce into the California Treasury a new California Credit debit card for all he people residing in California. This would help in achieving the stabilization of the economy, and establish a bank debit or credit for recipients of the California social security credit debit card. Since California leads by example the Social Security credit card would open a new mechanism for paying down the debt.
The First Year of the Card would carry 3-4 trillion of the debt just in the first administrations of the costs starting the bill, but helping the Treasury California getting back into the green.